


Boy-Friends With Benefits

by hamelott



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: (for now) - Freeform, Friends With Benefits, M/M, i had a lot of fun writing this one, just two stupid idiots in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 16:12:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11211588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamelott/pseuds/hamelott
Summary: Prompt: Could you write something where Ezekiel and Jake are friends with benefits because neither thinks the other actually likes them?





	Boy-Friends With Benefits

The thing with Ezekiel had started out really easy. They’d finish up at the Library, pack up their stuff, and vote on whose apartment they would go to for the night. They didn't tell anybody because they didn't see the point in it. Everyone else would've asked questions that neither of them were really sure how to answer. It was just easy - easy and simple and safe. 

But then it got complicated because Jake was an absolute dumbass. For some reason, unbeknownst to him, he'd started developing... _ stuff.  _ Not like a rash or anything, but like  _ feelings _ stuff. The things that he found annoying about Ezekiel had suddenly become endearing. He was slowly inching away from Ezekiel - the dude Jake really enjoyed taking home each night - and becoming  _ Ezekiel _ \- the dude that Jake wanted to just take home and maybe cuddle up to on the couch with  _ Robocop _ playing in the background. 

Of course, he couldn't tell the idiot that. Ezekiel had been the one to offer up their “Friends with Benefits” deal, so he obviously harbored no feelings for Jake except physical. Because otherwise he would've just asked Jake out in the first place...right?

All he really knew was that the whole thing gave him a headache, and all he really wanted to do was tell somebody about it. But, really, the only person he'd wanna tell was Ezekiel and that was obviously out of the question. So, instead, he told it to a cold beer or two and did his best to forget about it every morning. 

~~~

It all started to change a week after Apep. Things had died down in the Library after they'd gotten rid of the Egyptian god, and Jake found himself liking it. Cassandra was gone most days to help Estrella with her garden, and Flynn and Eve were off doing...whatever it was Flynn and Eve did together -  _ he _ certainly wasn't about to ask. 

This left Jake with a usually empty workspace and tons of downtime to do even more research and write even more papers. He was literally living his dream and plus he got to save the world every two weeks or so.

Except something was still off. Ezekiel was off. He'd started hanging around the Library too instead of going off on his mini-adventures that he used to take all the time when they had downtime. He brought Jake coffee in the morning, sandwiches - from all around the world of course - at lunch time, and made sure Jake got back to his apartment at a reasonable time. Some nights, he wouldn't even stay over. They still had their fun of course, but it was all starting to feel really… _ domesticated _ .

And Jake, selfishly, found himself not minding. He enjoyed the coffee and morning conversation. He enjoyed the quiet company of Ezekiel with his feet in Jake’s lap, tapping away at his phone as Jake clicked and clacked on a computer. He liked the slow walks home, his fingers linked with Ezekiel's, as he listened to the thief chat about his most recent favorite movie or some funny prank he'd pulled on Jenkins that day. 

Of course, a small part of him wondered. It wondered maybe if Ezekiel had started feeling what he'd been feeling. It wondered if maybe there was a chance Ezekiel wasn't just in it for the sex either anymore. It wondered if maybe there was a chance that they could be  _ more.  _

But it was probably just wishful thinking. 

~~~

Jake was forced to pull his head out of his ass after the worst mission they'd ever had. It'd gone more horrible than the town of ghosts. They lost, big time. An entire family had been lost because of them. Because of  _ him _ . Because they'd chosen to save him instead of them. He still couldn't get their screams out of his head. 

When someone knocked on his door, Jake immediately shouted, “Go away!”

The knocks persisted despite Jake’s multiple calls. He muttered to himself as he climbed unsteadily to his feet. His arm wrapped around his stomach, he limped over to the door. He yanked it open and snapped, “I swear, if you came here to preach to me about our ‘Lord and Savior’, I've got a few things I can tell you about gods!”

Ezekiel stood there, eyes wide, and Jake deflated with a long breath. The thief tried to give him a grin, hands raising innocently. “I promise; I'm not here to talk about that dude.”

Jake sighed again and rested his forehead against the doorframe. He muttered, “Look, Zeke, I'm really not feeling up for it tonight, I-.”

“That's not why I'm here,” Ezekiel said quickly, and it was then that Jake realized just how nervous he looked. He was biting his bottom lip, and his hands were held tightly together as if that were the only way to keep them from flying around and fiddling with things they shouldn't fiddle with. “I just…can I come in?”

Jake glanced worriedly over his shoulder to his haphazard apartment. A hole was in his wall and there were a few more beer bottles than he was proud of splayed out across his coffee table. “Ezekiel, I just-.”

“Please,” Ezekiel murmured, and the word cracked in his throat. He met Jake’s eyes unsteadily. He’d let go of his bottom lip only to leave it trembling. 

Jake ran a hand through his hair. “I-yeah, come in-.”

Ezekiel jumped forward, wrapping his arms around Jake's neck and tugging him down to shove his face underneath Jake's ear. His breath was shaky against Jake’s skin, and he didn't let him go as he shut the door behind him and drew him into the apartment.

~~~

Jake woke up late in the night with Ezekiel laying across his chest. He noticed the thief wasn't asleep either and reached up to play with the short hairs at the base of Ezekiel’s skull. 

“I'm sorry,” Ezekiel murmured against his shirt, refusing to look up and meet Jake’s eyes. “I'm sorry we made that decision, but I'm also not. I would've been lost without you, and I know it's selfish but I'd do it the same way. Every damn time. I'm not losing any of you, okay?”

Jake nodded slowly even though Ezekiel couldn't see him. “Yeah...I know.”

They sat in silence for a long time before Jake murmured, “Why'd you come?”

He could feel Ezekiel's chest against his, slowly moving with each breath he took.  “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I'm not,” Jake admitted. He sighed. “But  _ why _ did you come? I thought...I thought we didn't do that.”

He would hear Ezekiel’s frown in his, “Do what?”

“I dunno,” Jake muttered, hand going still in Ezekiel’s hair. “Check in, I guess? Make sure we’re okay? Care?”

Ezekiel slowly lifted his head, chin resting where his ear had been. There was that frown Jake had heard. “I guess...I just wanted to. Because I do...care, that is.”

“Yeah,” Jake murmured. “Me too.” He sighed again and shook his head. “But I thought...I thought…”

“Yeah?” Ezekiel prompted, his frowning curving up just a smidge. 

Jake shrugged. “I thought we were just ‘friends with benefits.’”

It sounded stupid coming out of his mouth, but it also felt like a relief. He'd finally found the root of his issue. He didn't like their stupid label. 

Now Ezekiel was full-on grinning. “Well, I mean, yeah, we are, aren't we? Friends with benefits, that is. But who’s to say those ‘benefits’ can't be a fully functioning relationship?”

Jake felt a grin of his own tugging at his lips. “I think I like that.”

“And, for instance,” Ezekiel was saying, “if you wanted to call me your ‘boy-friend with benefits,’ well, I'd be cool with that.”

“Yeah?” Jake questioned. 

Ezekiel’s grin grew warm and two dimples appeared at the edges of his mouth “Yeah.”

“Well, you can just call me Jake, if you want,” Jake said. With that, he turned on his side and laughed when Ezekiel slid off of him with a yelp. 

Ezekiel punched him in the arm. “How about ‘jerk’? I think that one fits you a lot better.”

“Whatever,” Jake said, snorting. “You know you love me, Jones.”

Ezekiel didn't say anything. But with his soft eyes and small smile, he didn't really need to.

And Jake, after pulling Ezekiel back to his chest and pressing a warm kiss to the top of his head, didn't really need to say anything either. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! Thanks for reading this and I super hope you enjoyed!! This one was really fun to write!!
> 
> Also, I've noticed I have a really bad habit of not posting for weeks and then just absolutely spamming the Librarians tag with my name so...hopefully you enjoy my writing!


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